


Day 1: Warmth

by Aesthetic_Wreck



Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Banter, Blackmail, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27335656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aesthetic_Wreck/pseuds/Aesthetic_Wreck
Summary: Harry and Tom crash land on a planet from a raging storm, and must survive in a cave until Voyager can find them.
Relationships: Harry Kim & Tom Paris, Tom Paris & B'Elanna Torres
Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995937
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Day 1: Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> I am giving NaNoWriMo a try! I'll probably fail, but at least I'll have written something, right? Hope you like it!

“Brace for impact!” Tom yelled over the turbulence of the shuttle. He and Harry both lurched forward slightly as their shuttle crashed into the ground. Sparks exploded from the console, and coolant started to fill the shuttle. At last, they came to a stop, lodged halfway into the ground on the planet. 

Tom and Harry were going to fly down there to collect some vegetation, but the climate turned out to be more unpredictable than they thought, an electrical storm damaging the shuttle and making a crash landing necessary.

Tom groaned, putting a hand up to his head. It was throbbing, but luckily didn’t feel like a concussion. His wrist also was sore and beginning to swell; probably sprained. Tom felt fine otherwise, apart from some bruising. Worry began to twist his stomach, however, as he braced himself to look at Harry. He was just starting to sit up, and seemed slightly more disoriented than Tom.

“Harry, hey,” Tom reached over and gripped Harry’s shoulder. Harry had a cut on his head, but he seemed to come back to himself reasonably well.

“Tom! Are you okay?” he demanded, sitting up rapidly, then groaning as the pain in his head intensified.

“Just a little banged up,” said Tom, putting on an air of nonchalance. “What about you? That cut looks nasty.”

Harry put a hand to the cut on his head, looking mildly surprised when he drew his hand back to see blood. 

“Guess I just didn’t notice. I’ll worry about it later, though, we’ve gotta get out of here.” Harry was right. Coolant continued to fill the shuttle, and would soon reach critical levels. 

Tom struggled from his seat, grabbing a medkit before helping Harry out, despite Harry’s protests. Tom knew Harry preferred to do things himself and didn’t like people worrying over him, but Tom still suspected Harry might be concussed, and he didn’t want to take any chances until they found shelter from the storm.

It was unlike any storm Tom had seen before, and that was saying something considering the Delta Quadrant. The wind whipped around them, lightning crackling dangerously as the cold rain lashed at them, almost sleet at that point. The winds were reaching dangerous speeds, buffeting Tom and Harry from side to side. Luckily, Tom spotted a cave only about fifty meters away, and he would have laughed in relief if the storm hadn’t literally taken his breath away. As soon as they entered the cave, it became much easier to walk, but the storm had left them both rather dizzy and freezing cold. 

“Alright, Harry, sit down, I’m gonna look at your head now,” Tom ordered, pointing at a nearby boulder for Harry to take a seat. Harry rolled his eyes slightly.

“Tom, I’m pretty sure it’s fine, we just need to stop the bleeding.” He sat down anyway, looking immensely relieved to get off his feet. Tom opened the medkit.

“I’m in command, I’ll be the judge of that.” Damn it, the medical tricorder was damaged by the storm. Tom pressed a bandage against Harry’s head, then held four fingers up in front of him. “How many fingers do you see?”

“Tom…”

“How many?” his voice turned sharp.

“Four fingers, Tom,” said Harry, exasperated. “You’re holding up four fingers, your middle name is Eugene, and we were supposed to fly down here to get vegetation. You happy now?”

“It’ll do for now,” Tom sighed as he hovered the dermal regenerator over Harry’s cut.

“Good, because you’re next,” Harry said. Once Tom was done, Harry promptly switched places with Tom, looking him over for any injuries besides his wrist, which was indeed sprained. Harry wrapped it up, but now that their injuries were taken care of, the more immediate problem was the cold. 

Dark descended on the planet quickly, the temperature along with it. Tom could feel the cold tighten his core, and it was all he could do to keep his teeth from chattering. He needed to stay strong in command, and Harry needed looking after in case there was a concussion they couldn’t find. Despite knowing Harry was quite capable as an officer, Tom still couldn’t help but worry about his best friend whenever they were in dangerous situations. Harry was young, after all, and in over his head sometimes on what was only supposed to be a mission of just a few weeks. They all were, of course, but Harry didn’t deserve that, and Tom would do whatever it took to make sure Harry did not have to go through any more than necessary.

“Come on, we’ll find some stones to heat up, they’ll keep us warm,” Tom called over his shoulder as he ventured deeper into the cave. 

“Good idea,” He heard Harry from behind. “So are we gonna wait here for the storm to die out, then contact _Voyager_?”

“It might be a while before the storm calms down enough for a signal to get through,” Tom replied as he gathered some large stones. “We’ll wait here for a while, and _Voyager_ will most likely find us instead.”

“I hope you’re right,” Harry said as they went back to the middle of the cave and started to arrange the stones. 

“Since when have I not been?” Tom asked, grinning. 

“I mean, do you want me to go alphabetically or chronologically?” Harry laughed, but Tom could hear him beginning to shiver. Bad sign.

“Let’s just light our campfire,” said Tom, and they both aimed their phasers at the rocks and fired until they glowed red.

“So that’s what this is, a camping trip?” said Harry. “Not gonna lie, I pictured our shore leave a bit warmer.”

“Come on, Harry, roughing it’s not all bad,” Tom said, smiling. Despite their banter, Tom was growing more worried by the minute. The storm showed no sign of letting up, it was still getting colder, and their phasers wouldn’t heat the rocks forever. 

Tom got up and moved over to where Harry was sitting. They were both dry from the sleety rain by now, but they had to stay warm if they were going to make it through the night.

“We should conserve body heat until _Voyager_ finds us,” he told Harry, slinging an arm around his friend’s shoulders. Harry leaned into the touch gratefully, and Tom could feel the shivering Harry had been trying to suppress.

“We need to stay awake,” Harry said, almost as if to himself. Tom wrapped his other arm around Harry, trying to share as much warmth as possible.

“I know, we’ll just keep talking. That helps right? Should we be walking around too?”

“No, it’s better if we conserve our energy,” Harry said, his voice slightly muffled as it was buried in Tom’s shoulder. “I guess talking would work, as long as it’s not just you doing it.” Tom rolled his eyes.

“Okay, then you talk. Haven’t heard much from you,” Tom said, only half teasing. “How’s your head? Still no dizziness, nausea, anything like a concussion?”

“N-no, nothing like that,” said Harry, unable to keep from shivering now... “We probably do have minor concussions, b-but the Doctor can take care of that.”

“Alr-alright,” said Tom, who was finding it increasingly difficult to talk, even to make fun of the Doctor’s bedside manner, and instead focused his energy on keeping Harry talking. “I-I was thinking of starting a new holodeck program, got any ideas?”

“W-well, not...th’s,” said Harry, the end of his sentence starting to slur a bit. Tom looked down at him and shook him slightly.

“Harry? C’mon, you’ve g’tta...stay ‘wake,” he said, forcing his brain to work. Harry shook himself slightly, then picked up the phaser and fired at the rocks again.

“I think...the r’cks might be helping a bit,” Harry said, his voice still a little slurred but slightly more lucid. Tom didn’t want to get his hopes up, but Harry might have been right. Their cave wasn’t very expansive, and though the wind blew in every once in awhile, the heat from the rocks and their bodies and breaths were starting to have an effect on the temperature, if only slightly. 

Tom nuzzled his face into the top of Harry’s head, taking deep breaths to try and warm them both. It felt like an eternity, but eventually, the temperature in the room was warm enough for them to be out of danger, although it was still pretty miserable.

“God, I can’t wait for _Voyager_ to get here already,” Tom mumbled into Harry’s hair. His eyes were heavy, and he was debating whether or not it was safe for them to sleep.

“I’m gonna run the warmest beach program I can find, and sleep for a month in there,” Harry replied, something between a laugh and a shiver in his voice. “It’s a bit warmer now, I think it would be safe to sleep.”

“Uhh...yeah, we’re probably good, we’ll just have to take turns awake to keep the stones hot,” Tom said after considering for a moment. “You go ahead to sleep, I’ll keep watch.” The only answer was a quiet snore. Tom looked down to see Harry passed out in his arms, breathing peacefully. Careful not to jostle Harry too much, Tom maneuvered them both back until they were leaning against the cave wall.

It wouldn’t be so hard to stay awake. It would help if he could sit up of course, but that can’t really be helped when one is being used as a pillow. Tom just had to concentrate. He fired at the rocks again, their bright orange glow warming him a bit more. Just stay awake...he could do it...he just needed to close his eyes for a second and then he’d feel better...

  
  
  


“I’m getting two humanoid life signs inside that cave over there,” B’Elanna called to Tuvok, who was standing by the shuttle. The storm had settled down by now, but the area around the shuttle was a disaster. Trees were upended, the shuttle itself half-buried and flooded. Tuvok carefully made his way over to B’Elanna, who pointed to the mouth of the cave. “They’re a little weak, but not in immediate danger.”

Tuvok and B’Elanna made their way into the cave, phasers at the ready, but soon discovered that they did not need them. Tom and Harry laid huddled asleep against the cave wall, still clinging to each other to combat the chill.

“Oh my God,” B’Elanna choked back a laugh so as not to wake them, then rummaged in her bag, incredibly grateful to find that there was indeed a holocam.

“What are you doing, Lieutenant?” said Tuvok in his usual deadpan tone. B’Elanna laughed silently as she snapped a couple of pictures.

“I’m sorry, Tuvok, it’s just too good.” Tuvok did not roll his eyes, but B’Elanna felt him doing it anyway. Having what she wanted, B’Elanna approached Harry and Tom, shaking them lightly.

“Tom, Harry, wake up,” she ordered, trying to stay professional as they both groaned and huddled further from her.

“Ugh, it’s too cold,” Harry mumbled.

“She wants us to freeze,” Tom whined dramatically.

“It’s way above freezing, you too, and you’d better get up before I get some more pictures.” That seemed to get their attention. They both scrambled up, rather stiffly from the cold.

“Okay, okay, we’re up, no pictures,” Harry said, laughing sheepishly. B’Elanna smiled wickedly.

“Oh, it’s too late, I already got them,” she said, taking off for the cave exit.

“Come on, B’Elanna,” Tom called, following her at a jog. B’Elanna just laughed again.

“They’re very cute, Tom, I’ll be sure to get them framed.”

She did end up framing one, but decided to keep it in her blackmail drawer for safekeeping. And if Janeway happened to get the image sent to her ready room later that day, well, she probably needed something to smile about anyway.

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
